Letter: Get tire pressure smart

The cold season often finds us with our tire pressures dangerously low. The less air in our tires, the more they flex, leading to the shreds of tires we see on the interstate highways.

In 1994, Clinton’s congress passed CAFÉ rules to help sedans achieve 10 mpg better than previously. To squeeze the last 3 mpg out of the car, we made tire producers engineer tires to run at 44 psi as written on the sidewall. The extra air in the tire reduced frictional drag and raised the mpg for vehicles with fully inflated tires.

Astoundingly, if you buy a new set of tires or get your car serviced, you can be sure your tires are set to 35 psi, because they say, “the tires are happier at 35 psi.” Thanks to ExxonMobil’s control over synthetic rubber tires our nation is running on tires 10 pounds underinflated, leading to increased tire wear and gas consumption. Become trucker smart and fill the tires to the max. Check them today.

John Hoffmann

Carbondale

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